$137 Million Donation for Lucerne Opera House in Dispute

In 2007, Christof Engelhorn pledged $137 million from the Butterfield Trust to help the Lucerne Festival open an opera house. Mr. Engelhorn died last August, and the trust backed away from the commitment in October. Officials of the Lucerne Festival are now trying to dislodge the unpaid $131 million plus 7% interest since October.

The trust argues that it has no obligation because there is no formal contract. It withdrew from the project because it feels there is no certainty that the project would ever be properly financed or completed.

Urs W. Studer, the mayor of Lucerne, says it is preposterous that the trust is contending that Mr. Engelhorn didn’t have sway over the trust’s assets. It was his money, and his wishes were practically orders. Officials of the Lucerne Festival argue that even if no express contract exists, they have documentation showing the trust’s repeated acknowledgement of its commitment to funding the opera house and that these communications add up to a binding contract.

The trust’s spokesman, Sacha Wigdorovits, stated that “the trust was ‘not impressed’ by threats of legal action.” 

Daniel J. Wakin and James R. Oestreich, Donation for a Lucerne Opera House is in Dispute, N.Y. Times, Apr. 28, 2011.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.